Sinclair Bay Subsea (SBS), of Wick, has a new owner and additional premises in Aberdeen following its sale to a son of Highland businessman Roy MacGregor.
John MacGregor’s investment firm, Clan Partners, now owns a controlling interest. The acquisition value was undisclosed.
The Sinclair family has retained a minority shareholding.
Sinclairs staying with the business
Husband-and-wife management team Peter and Louise Sinclair are staying on in operations and business development/technical roles respectively.
They teamed up with Aberdeen-based Clan Partners to in order to “scale and mature” the business, Mr MacGregor said.
Being part of a bigger group is expected to create new jobs at the subsea services firm.
We are proud of where we have taken the business thus far, and feel this investment will enhance our capability to service our current customers and open doors to new ones.”
Peter Sinclair, Sinclair Bay Subsea
SBS currently has a four strong team across its headquarters in Wick and the new facility at Clan Partners’ HQ in Dyce, where it can easily tap into other group resources.
Mr MacGregor said SBS would, with the support of its new owner, be able to “capitalise on its vast growth potential”.
He added: “With some further investment in the business alongside access to our network geographically, we are confident we can support Peter and Louise to significantly progress the business over the coming years.”
Growth potential
Mr Sinclair said: “We are proud of where we have taken the business thus far, and feel this investment will enhance our capability to service our current customers and open doors to new ones.”
SBS has been supplying subsea engineers for offshore drilling projects around the world for more than 10 years, with the company having been incorporated in December 2011.
The firm’s new owner has its roots in Roy MacGregor’s Inverness-based Global Energy Group (GEG).
Clan Partners split off from Envoy & Partners – controlled by Iain MacGregor, one of Roy’s three sons – which itself demerged from GEG just over two and a half-years ago.
Younger brother John MacGregor, who remains a director of Envoy, took ownership of recruitment-focused Aberdeen firms Global Resources Network, Maris Subsea and Granite Recruitment (formerly Expertec).
Mr MacGregor’s company has more than doubled in size since launch
The three businesses combined were then turning over £15 million and employing 25 people.
Have since divested, acquired and organically grown, Clan Partners now boasts eight specialist recruitment businesses with total turnover of £35m and 85 full-time staff.
It’s 36-year-old owner added: “We have expanded territory from a solely north-east Scotland base to Edinburgh, three regions in England and two ventures in Dubai.
“In addition to growing our energy platform with a fast-expanding renewables venture (Ventus International), the group has branched out to healthcare, property, IT and finance sectors to diversify the portfolio.”
“We have plans to grow each of the current platforms with our talented business partners, while also investing in further acquisitions to enhance the diversity of the group.”
Clan Partners is targeting a further three acquisitions and three new “organic plays” in the coming two years, he said.
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